Summary

Every kid can relate to the typical homework task of doing a report about Mars. But when Get Red!s young narrator turns to his trusty red crayon -- which has grown less and less cooperative the more he's used it -- he discovers that it has run away! So begins a fresh and zany narrative about the many talents and guises of the color red.

Publisher's Weekly Review

This first outing by three advertising writers uses stock photos to deliver a one-two punch: a funny school-problem story and a wry "infomercial" for the color red. The nameless narrator, who is never pictured, tells of his talking red crayon now AWOL which started the school year teaching the boy fun facts about its hue and helping him color art projects. The boy's reminiscences and accompanying illustrations chart the crayon's growing distress (and diminishing size). Instead of using photos shot specifically for the book, the creators build the story around stock photos, which creates a fragmentary feel. Red-eyed frogs, blinking traffic lights and character shots of human faces flash one after the other like images in a 15-second television spot. The text charges along across the pages, while factoids run along the bottom. Often the juxtapositions result in confusion: for instance, when the crayon "boasted of red friends who made it big in sports," the page divides into a photo of a matador (top) and a baseball (below), with a factoid about the ball's 108 stitches ("If you unraveled the red thread and stretched it out, it would be seven feet four inches long!") Classmates, clerks at checkout counters, even family members make an appearance, then disappear. Too sophisticated for a concept book, this volume may be best suited to Gen-Xers who will admire this creative team's eye for arresting photos and design. Ages 6-10. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-A zany story about a child (whose name and gender are unspecified) and a talking red crayon. The crayon has been worn down by helping the student create many projects, and as he becomes stubbier, his mood becomes decidedly less friendly, and he takes to hiding from the student. Now that the youngster needs him to complete an overdue project about Mars, it seems as though the crayon has disappeared. When the narrator threatens to color Mars purple, the red crayon returns out of pride, and at project and book's end, only a remnant of the crayon wrapper remains. Just then, the student's purple crayon becomes animated, bragging about its symbolism of royalty and conveying the feeling that this crayon, too, has a mind of its own. As the various projects are discussed, readers are treated to exciting, large color photos of numerous red items. From an erupting volcano to the head of a rooster to the red paint on the face of a Samburu warrior to the "Love" sculpture in Philadelphia, young readers are made aware of the uses of the color in art and nature. The concept of a talking, wayward crayon is sure to produce chuckles. A few facts relating to the red items pictured appear at the bottom of each page. The hand-lettered text adds to the fun by making it seem as though it were really written by the youngster. An attractive, imaginative presentation.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.